Cover Image: Left: Krissy Kidwell spent her birthday catching incredible migratory fish jigging in the lower bay! Right: Anglers employee Alex caught a few nice pickerel in the Magothy River!
Rockfish: While we are still receiving reports of nice rockfish being caught in the Patapsco, the Magothy and around the bridge, the majority of the action is definitely going to be in the lower bay. There is still a decent bite out from Chesapeake Beach, but is has slowed down a little bit as well. For the best chance at big fish (we’ve seen pictures of fish finders completely filled with fish from the top to the bottom!) You will want to launch our of Breezy Point or Point Lookout and even go south into Virginia waters. Most of the fish are being caught by jigging larger 7-10 inch baits on 1 or 1.5 ounce jig heads. You can also troll larger profile baits or live line eels! Fish are mostly in deep water up to 60 feet, on the channel edges or in the channel. Marking them on your fish finder is the best way to find them, but there is also still some bird action. Remember it’s catch and release only now. Please handle those big fish responsibly!
Perch: If you do want do bring home fish for dinner, deep water fishing for White Perch is the way to go! White perch are in water up to 50 feet anywhere from inside of the Patapsco River down to Chesapeake Beach. You will want to look for deep holes, hard bottom, submerged structure or oyster beds. Metal jigs have been working really well for those big 11 and 12 inch perch! You can also use a Chesapeake sabiki rig tipped with worms or fish bites, or can use small plastic stingers on light jig heads (We love the Stingers from Bust ‘Em Baits!)
We are also seeing numerous reports of yellow perch being caught in the upper rivers and creeks! The Magothy was especially productive this week! Use the same Bust ’em Baits stingers that you are using for White Perch, or try live minnows!
Catfish: Catfish can be another great option if you want to fry some fish for dinner! The biggest ones can be found north of bridge and are typically caught using any type of cut bait.
Pickerel: The creeks off of the Magothy, Severn and Patapsco are still on fire for Pickerel! You can also head over to the Eastern Shore pond such as Johnson, Unicorn, Smithville or Tuckahoe! Three to four inch Paddletails rigged weedless if you are fishing in grass, or on light jig heads if you are in deeper water around structure have really been working well for us, especially the Zman “Purple Death” color. Live minnows work well too!